Monday's Mantra

Doing the Right thing the Wrong Way!

Welcome to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power and TCU (Trench Classes United)! I’m so glad you could join us for some neighboring mantras that will surely spread a message of hope to you and your neighbor(s), friends and strangers too! Grab your favorite beverage and your strand of faith and let’s go tie some more knots together based on Luke 10:25-37.

So we talked about the priest that passed by the other side of the injured man left for dead; let’s now push the pause button on the Levite, the other guy that passed by on the other side, just like the priest. Here’s a couple of facts to help us bring this story closer to home within our own neighborhoods:
Levites assisted  the priests in their duties and they were very well-versed in the law because of their role in the temple, which was quite a big role.  They lived life by the book or the law and to break the law was to invite disassociation and rejection upon them. The Levites were no different than us: they wanted approval and acceptance and oftentimes they would compromise in order to get those God-given desires. Haven’t you? I know I have!

Understanding the laws that these guys were bound to, and knowing that law often overrode morality as we know, understand and practice morality, or try to, it’s a bit easier to understand why the Levite passed by on the other side, just like the priest did.  So now that we can quit finger-pointing, let’s talk about the reality of following the leader and compromise. See, there comes a point when following the leader can lead to a form of compromising one’s values and beliefs; this is known as rigidity! Another way to put it is doing the right thing the wrong way? He was trying to do the right thing but it was the wrong way, and compromised the heart issue of any law!

See, it comes down to what’s in the heart. Paul talks about this very issue in 1^st Corinthians 9:19-23, wherein he was able to be all to all without compromising his beliefs and his relationship with Christ. He wasn’t a lawmaker or a lawbreaker; his heart was for their heart to know his God. 

Have you ever gone about doing something you knew to be right but you did it not so right? I can give you lots of examples in my own life but let me give you just a couple: How many times have I parented the wrong way but with the right motive? Or how many times have I interfered in a matter via opinion or unsolicited advice with the greater good in mind, of course, but only made it worse? These are examples of doing the right thing the wrong way.

So let’s get back to this Levite in the parable of The Good Samaritan: He was a lawmaker, not a lawbreaker; his heart was to please his boss, not His Savior. Haven’t we all dodged a bullet for the sake of self, to make ourselves look good, upright and righteous?

May I challenge you that when an opportunity comes to neighbor a stranger, don’t walk on the other side of the street for the sake of culture, rules or to avoid embarrassment or even to fit in and get acceptance; consider doing the right thing the right way; it’s a matter of the heart!

Love, 

Evinda